“The Internet is for porn,” as the song goes, and so when I went looking for the allegedly raunchy video for the Peter Godwin song “Images of Heaven,” I imagined it would be easy. The song was popular at the time it was released, and still much-loved judging from blog entries about it. Plus, the artist and director are both still alive.

However, recent clampdowns on footage of a pornographic or otherwise graphic nature on YouTube and other hosting sites actually meant that it would not be easy at all.

Not Bananarama, but an amazing fascimile!

Hilariously porny music videos are a particularly vulnerable medium since actual pornographic material can be reposted on specialized sites like Pornotube.com, where a music video would not be considered appropriate. It then becomes a case of shifting material around sites. This makes it difficult to keep track as links posted become “dead” very quickly.

Lesbians! Sorry to say, that’s all we can show here.

The “Images of Heaven” video proved an example of this. Links I found in articles invariably led to a message saying the video had been removed for inappropriate content. Further research brought me to the video’s director—now advertising as R4949 on YouTube—who had marked the video as private.

Luckily, he offered to allow me access to the video, but by the time I succeeded in doing this, it too had been removed.

Images of heaven, that send him to hell!

In the end, I found the video on a blog where it had been posted with the approval of R4949. It was definitely worth the trouble, from a fan’s point of view at least. I went looking for silly Peter Godwin-related porn, and silly Peter Godwin-related porn I got. It was difficult to screen cap the video in a way that accurately conveys the story and the look of the video without including nudity, but I tried my best.

The theme of the video is “disappearing lesbians and Peter Godwin.” This ties in nicely with the theme of the song, which is porn and how it makes you feel inadequate, because you know such encounters would never happen in real life: “The media made you / There is nothing I can do / Cause you don’t exist.” Poor Peter Godwin, doomed to watch the lesbians have sex without him. He is tormented by having to watch it! TORMENTED.

The devil’s throne is clearly a fire hazard.

The first girl appears when Peter Godwin is sitting in an Addams Family-style wicker chair for no reason, then disappears, then reappears naked in the wicker chair (which really can’t be comfortable).

The second appearance of a girl is even weirder because she starts off as a flat leopard then turns into a girl in a red swimsuit, all because of Peter Godwin’s magic porn touch. Here, they’re missing a great opportunity to put the girl into a leopard-print teddy like they did to Peter’s old bandmate Duncan Browne, though. What a shame.

Apparently, one of the girls is Jesus, as she is shown in a lot of grainy crucifix poses (and very naked, so no caps of that) and Peter Godwin seems to be a vampire as he shields himself from it.

The other girl appears to be the Virgin Mary, as she is mimicking the pose of the (rather phallic) Virgin Mary statue Peter Godwin is holding in the background. Which is weird, because I’m pretty sure she is NOT that other girl’s mother. But who knows?

The last few scenes toy with the same religious imagery of the song, but I can’t draw any real conclusions. Compared to Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film”—online in various places in all its uncensored glory—it’s pretty intellectual stuff, especially with the religious connotations.

Judging from the reaction of people I’ve shown this to, it isn’t something that will endear Godwin to most of his fans—a lot of them are women who love the song, but have no particular interest in ’80s lesbian soft-core porn. Still, as a contribution to its own genre it is interesting and, even 26 years later, truly hilarious.

The gay, it burns!

“Is that a Virgin Mary statue in your hands,
or are you happy to see me?”

9 Responses to “Peter Godwin’s Porn Purgatory”

Brilliant synopsis of this video. Have you seen the “un-porn” version of Images of Heaven (the video)? It is hilarious as well. Peter has gold lamé couch cushions in it! Sadly it isn’t on youtube anymore.

I will let you know, I NEED to find this video.
Some “highlights”: Peter falls in love with a girl from a cereal box who comes to life via a remote control, attempts to seduce her on a leopard skin rug, and pours vodka on her on a beach. It’s a bit less sleazy than the “dirty” version but the idea is still there…images of heaven that send Peter Godwin to hell!

The video for his song “Emotional Disguise” (on YouTube) features him looking highly emo and upset (on another beach!) over his chick leaving him after they play with some Tarot cards. You don’t get these highly intense domestic situations in videos these days, ever…there should just be a MySpace dedicated to his videos alone.

[…] (later of “Images of Heaven” and “Emotional Disguise” fame, and of the vaguely pornographic music videos). Metro’s first album from 1976 contains hyper-sexualized glam-rock; they were not unlike […]

Hello Hannah – I’ve no idea how old you and your fellow correspondents are but to judge a thirty-year-old pop video, made for fun and with no budget, by today’s standards is not really fair. What Images of Heaven does both musically and visually is capture a moment in time – a time where sexuality was being discussed – the days of Bowie, Boy George, Marilyn, Grace Jones… it was a different world – Lady Gaga is the nearest we have now to that feeling, that extravagant sexuality, where Madonna left off… If nudity and sexual themes really upset and worry you I suggest you avoid all art galleries and seek out a therapist immediately – either that or discover a sense of humour… it’s fun, it’s funny, it’s the 1980s on a plate… love your interpretation but not your conclusion. Best and rare love from R4949… PS I am having on-going battles with YouTube and Universal who keep taking it down – not because of the content but some spurious copyright claim…